Joann Rosario Interview (2005) - Articles

Joann Rosario Interview

Joann Rosario is back. She has experienced the loss of her voice, but the result was that she only grew stronger in the Lord. She spoke with GOSPELflava.com about her faith, new album, working with some great producers and traveling abroad with her father.

GOSPELflava.com: What has God healing your voice done for your faith?

Joann Rosario: I would call it "faith of steel" and "faith of gold" or whatever you want to call it. It has definitely been tested, tried and purified. Sometimes you have to learn how to believe. We think we know how to believe, but it's in the testing and the trial that we understand the process of faith. That is not something that is automatic, but it is a step by step thing.

GOSPELflava.com: Your first album was titled More, More, More (read album review). Why did you title this album, Now More than Ever ...Worship?

Joann Rosario: It was actually a culmination of Fred Hammond, my A&R person Monica Coates and I. We were trying to get the point across that people need to be worshipping God now more than ever. That would too long. We were just trying to find creative ways to make it short. We wanted to make the point that no matter the circumstances, we have to learn what true worship is. It's not really about the tempo of the song. It's not about if you can or cannot sing. It's not about if you are an artist or worship leader. All of us as children of God were created to worship. It's learning what that really means and what type of significance that gives us in our relationship with God.

GOSPELflava.com: Can you explain the significance of your travels abroad with your father, Apostle Nahum Rosario?

Joann Rosario: It equips me to do what I do as far as music is concerned, and preaching the Word here in the states. We tend to be very spoiled here in the US. Even if you are going through rough times, you still have welfare. There's always a way that you can help yourself or that the government can help you. It isn't until you go somewhere out of the country and you see the state of people. For example, Africa or Guatemala, where the government does not help people. Poverty is extreme poverty. You see the dedication that they have to God. It's not

Now More Than Ever ...Worship

"With All My Heart" is a lovely ballad that features Tim Aker’s piano work melded to a soft string arrangement. Joann Rosario makes this Babbie Mason remake her own as she passionately sings of her intent to.... Full Review

because of what God gives them, but they understand who it is God wants them to be. Their love for the Word, for the church and for their dedication to God makes me look at Christianity differently. That's what I am trying to communicate when I minister in the States. Even in our own fellowship of churches, the churches that are outside of the US are more successful than the ones that are in the US because there is a different mentality. In those countries, it is all or nothing. In America, Christianity is an option "when I feel like going on Sundays." I believe that God needs us in the US to have a different mentality and to be changed in order to really affect our communities.

GOSPELflava.com:There are several songs on the album that have that urban Latin feel to them. Joann Rosario: I'm Latin and I'm urban. I was born and raised in Chicago. This is a new generation of people. We're more exposed to hip hop. We're more exposed to R&B, and at the same time, we're connected to our Latin roots. If you are going to do Latin music, you have to do real Latin music. If you are going to do urban Latin, then that is another genre. You can't really put those two together. So my style is purposed and it's what I know and live.

GOSPELflava.com: Why was it important for you to include the all Spanish "Cuando Reposo En Ti" on the album?

Joann Rosario: It was important to me because of the fact that I don't think that people really know who I am. The first album was a beautiful album. I was leading worship at my home church before I was signed to FHammond Music. I think that's the true definition of who Joann Rosario is. My challenge is trying to take what I've learned doing Spanish praise and worship, leading worship every Sunday, and marry that to my love for Gospel music. I've always done Gospel music, but I've done it in English or in Spanish. My girlfriends will say, "How can you sing in Spanish and do runs?" I'm like, "I don't know. It's the same thing." The runs and what you do with your voice is a reflection of how you are feeling the song. I just wanted people to reconcile the live Joann and the studio Joann. I want them to understand how these two people come together.

GOSPELflava.com: How was it working with superproducers Alex Ward, Fred Hammond and Donald Lawrence?

Joann Rosario: It was absolutely amazing. Donald is very quiet. He is very sweet. He is very reserved. He's not pushy at all. All of the producers that I worked with on this project were very sensitive to what I was going through with my voice. There wasn't any pressure. It was just like, "As many times as you need to do it to get it right is OK. We understand what you are going through. It happens. God is gon' help you through this." I think that "God" is one of the greatest songs on the album to me. It's just an anointed song. Honestly, it's the one that I had to work the least to do. This is crazy because I was starting to get a cold. Of course, that is going to affect your voice. We went into the studio to do a scratch track. It didn't have any background vocals. The musicians hadn't really gotten on it. Donald said, "I just want to know how you feel." It was just me and a piano. Just the power and the impact of the Spirit on that song, the words and what I know of my life experience is; what you hear on the CD is what I did that night. I came back and added maybe one line and corrected maybe two spots where we wanted to do different wording. All the exhortation at the end was all from that night. It was such a prophetic moment that I didn't want to go back and touch it. Yeah, my voice might have sounded a little raspy, but it is powerful. Leave it alone.

Alex Ward is a genius. He is such a genius that you have to tell him, "OK, that might be going a little too far." He just has such an ear for vocals and for harmonies. I feel that he is 10 years ahead of where Gospel music is right now. I know that he is kind of torn between what he hears and where he thinks that marketplace is right now.

Every time I work with Fred Hammond, I almost want to sit down and say nothing. You know that this man knows exactly what he's talking about. He has the experience. He has the ear for the music. He has the heart of the people in mind. He knows where to go. With him, there's a trust so that I just kind of sit. Yeah, he'll ask me stuff, but I'm more listening than giving my opinion. When I sit under him, I feel that this is a mentor/mentee situation. I want to get as much learning as possible so that when he does send me out to work with another producer, I can take what I have learned from him and put it to work.

GOSPELflava.com: What would you say to other Latin artists who are aspiring to become Gospel singers, but are perhaps a bit afraid?

Joann Rosario: Gospel singers are the most amazing singers in the world. That is the truth. That's the bottom line. That cannot be denied. I am talking about African American singers specifically. They have voices that are out of this world. They have the range, and the texture of their voices is just amazing. That's all that I ever wanted to be because that's what has connected most with me and my personal taste for music.

For Latin people, the biggest thing is to overcome the fear, and don't be afraid to be who you are. I believe that once you take that step to be who you are, you will learn and grow. I can step into certain situations and say, "I can't sing like that person, I can't sing next to Mary Mary. I don't have Yolanda's range." Yeah it's something that I'm working towards. At the same time, I have to be secure enough in knowing that God called me to do something. I will represent him everywhere I go.

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— interview by Dwayne Lacy —